The Unseen March

Posted on 6 July 2015

Step by step, a military presence is entering schools across Britain. This includes Scotland, where according to Forces Watch, 83% of secondary schools have been visited by the military at least once during a two-year period.

This is part of a conscious strategy to increase support for the armed forces in the wake of unpopular wars.

Quakers in Britain have produced The Unseen March, a short film to start a public debate about the militarisation of education.

The Parliamentary Function Liaison Group is working on this issue, and is gathering evidence of the promotion of militarisation and military ethos in Scottish schools. Here is what the Group can provide:

Information, including data from Forces Watch and QPSW

Support, should you wish to write to your local school, discuss the issue with politicians and headteachers, etc

Finally, the Group would like to hear stories from young Friends and attenders about their own experiences with militarism in schools and how it affected them. Anecdotes can be told in anonymity if preferred.

Advices & Queries

34. Remember your responsibilities as a citizen for the conduct of local, national, and international affairs. Do not shrink from the time and effort your involvement may demand.

"Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come, that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one." - George Fox